


The Joker and the Thief

by calisotas



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, M/M, One Shot, Self-Esteem Issues, Time Skips, also its implied megavolt is legit in love w electricity, and the f5 all have speaking cameos, but its nothing inappropriate, but quackerjack has a lot to do with the final half, megavolt is the focus/pov, this be a childrens show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 18:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19773811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calisotas/pseuds/calisotas
Summary: Megavolt tries to sort out some personal issues by joining a new team of supervillains, but finds that it's not quite what he was expecting- until he meets a certain clown.(Set before & during Just Us Justice Ducks)





	The Joker and the Thief

The rat sighed as he stared into the filament of the iridescent bulb he gently held in his hands. It was beautiful- they all were to him, every shining light in the run down pit he called a city. But the longer he held his gaze, the more he realized that something wasn’t right. This wasn’t enough. What was he doing with his life? As much as he admired the sparkling presence of electricity, of the countless electronics he had siphoned from tech shops and lampposts, they could not talk to him. Every night he had sat down in the only chair he owned, the legs getting closer to breaking each time, and attempted to vent his frustrations to the bag of lightbulbs that lay opposite him, he had been ranting to himself. Sure, he seemed to prefer working alone despite his semi-outgoing nature, but there was something deep within his mind that haunted him about the fact regardless. 

Being invited to join a league of other unscrupulous characters didn’t seem to change much, either. He hesitated to even accept the offer, and when he finally caved in, he found himself feeling just as empty as he had always been. Oftentimes, the meetings were so unbearable that he even thought the various appliances lying around his home understood him better than the three men who gathered beside him each Friday. Why did he receive this invitation in the first place? Cold eyes lay upon him every time he entered the warehouse they were scheduled to meet in, and any attempts at socialization fell flat. They didn’t even seem to value his powers.

“Working late nights? Feeling a bit sluggish? Maybe you should try shaking things up.” The silky voice of Bud Flood, a.k.a. the Liquidator, proclaimed as Megavolt made his way into the villains’ designated gathering place one particularly grueling day. The newest member of the group cringed, still not used to the constant stream of grating salesman-like mannerisms his colleague displayed. Maybe this was how the others felt about him and his electrical getup.

“Yeah, you have seemed a little tired lately, Megs.” One of the more timid members, Reginald Bushroot, finally spoke up, but this slight display of confidence suddenly subsided as the final individual, the leader, approached the rest, causing everyone to take a few steps back.

“What’s got you down? Is your girlfriend not speaking to you again? Maybe you should try a real woman instead of pretending those pathetic gadgets care about you.” Negaduck chuckled to himself, directing his steely gaze onto the rat who seemed to be melting into the floor.

“S-shut up,” He whimpered, looking around for something, anything to stare at besides his new boss. He wished he could continue speaking, to retort that at least he had something that brought some form of light into his life (both literally and figuratively), but he knew better. No one spoke to Negaduck unless spoken to, and they certainly didn’t try to respond with anything but groveling if he chose to comment on the more personal aspects of their lives. 

“You know Megavolt, you’re a real freak. And you’re a pretty big failure, too. But there is a reason I invited you here. In fact, the same can be said about every single one of you idiots. You all have gifts… for some reason. And I intend to help you use them. After all, I do believe we have a common enemy.”

\--

He didn’t know why he stayed. Perhaps there was some form of comfort in talking to other living, breathing beings, no matter how much they insulted him. Maybe it was because being beaten around was the only sort of human interaction he had ever known- from his school days to his first attempt at criminal activity, he had been dealt the worst that life had to offer. When he retreated to his lair each night, he was met with nothing, and perhaps he had suffered so long that simply feeling that sense of familiarity, feeling anything, was better than that. Or maybe it was something quite different, because that promise of power he had been privy to was too great to pass up. Despite how he was used to being treated, he didn’t want to be a loser anymore. He had been his entire life, and not even receiving his powers, or flaunting them in front of his past tormentors had changed that. There was a small part of him that wanted to know what to do to turn it around- though, at the same time, another voice in his head reminded him that he would never be enlightened. He could hardly ever remember what day of the week it was, and he was certainly never going to drop his electricity obsession- both of those things were the driving force behind most of his ridicule. The very thought of toughening up was laughable. 

This internal debate went on during every group meeting, his head aching with a million thoughts as colleagues jokingly caressed the lampshades hanging inside the building and laughed at his many attempts to harness the energy from inside them. His thoughts were always swimming, so he always failed, just like he did before he joined. Just like he had every day of his life since birth. The thin skin he wore didn’t help his concentration, either. As this continued for months on end, his psyche trying to pretend that this was all well and good, he found himself wanting to ditch the joint and never return more and more frequently. He would always stop himself at the last minute- _What about your friends?_ \- but it was a fallacy. The people inside that building weren’t his friends. They were a bunch of morons who each had individual problems, pretending they didn’t exist for the sake of making fun of his own. He knew Bushroot, the timid one, didn’t participate much- and when he did, it was clearly done to fit in. But it wasn’t like they were best friends, either. As friendless as Megavolt was, he was still an extroverted man, and that just didn’t clash with the former scientist’s shuffling feet and constant bouts of silence. He chastised himself for thinking this way, feeling as if he should be grateful for any chance to talk to anyone who didn’t completely hate him, but he stuck with his pride anyway, because he still couldn’t bring himself to change. 

\--

His foundations were shaken on one seemingly boring night when someone strange walked in. Megavolt was drumming his fingers on the pool table, watching Negaduck collapse onto a sofa while Bud inconspicuously drenched a less-than-thrilled Bushroot.

“Hello, anyone here? Oh! Wow, is this place boring!” A voice laughed from the nearby hallway, harder than one likely should have at such a self-made, passé comment. Negaduck stirred on the couch before raising an eyebrow and jumping straight up.

“Mm, right. Listen up, idiots, we’ve got some new blood. Yadda yadda yadda, you know the drill.” 

Megavolt looked towards the doorway as a duck in an irreverent, frumpy clown suit stepped inside. His hands were limp at his side, but one of them was clutching a similarly dressed doll. He had to admit, the presence of this newcomer was slightly intriguing.

“Haha, look at you guys! Well, very nice to make your acquaintance. I’m Quackerjack,” The character smiled without anyone saying anything at all to him, his large teeth bared. “And this is my good pal Mr. Banana Brain. Say hello!” In an instant, he turned to his doll and moved its arm back and forth, still flashing a smile at his new coworkers. His eyes seemed to lock onto Megavolt for a moment. “I gotta say, that’s quite a getup you’ve got there, Mister-?”

“Megavolt. Yeah, yeah, I’m insane, I know.” The rodent sighed, shifting his gaze to the side. Maybe this guy wasn’t who he thought he might be. What a joy it was going to be to have yet another person constantly jeering at him.

“I wouldn’t take that as an insult, but I was going to say that it looks quite fetching if I do say so myself!” Could he not stop smiling? Every time he spoke, that bright beam lit up his face… it was almost obnoxious. But wait- wait! Was that actually a compliment? A genuine one? Megavolt cleared his throat, almost unable to process the fact that someone had said something kind to him. He had no idea what to say in turn. Thankfully, before he could respond, Negaduck interrupted the pair and saved him from embarrassing himself. The last thing he wanted was to immediately turn this one potential friend into an enemy.

“Alright, enough pretty talk, let’s get down to business.” The ragged duck clasped his hands together as the rest of the group hurriedly gathered around him. “I’m closin’ shop on recruits, which means this is the big one. It’s time for each of you to play a part.”

Glances were exchanged, most being made in anticipation or fear, but Megavolt noticed Quackerjack’s seemed to be making light of all the news- that goofy grin was still plastered all over his face and he was stifling laughs at every turn. How was he able to stay this upbeat? Was he just so new that he didn’t understand the gravity of Negaduck’s announcements yet? The rat thought it was all fairly obvious- the initial recruitment process itself wasn’t the friendliest. Maybe it had something to do with whatever his talents were. He was so strong, so powerful, that his demeanor didn’t matter. After all, everyone else seemed to annoy the group’s leader anyway.

This was all quickly forgotten about, however, as Megavolt snapped out of this mental trance upon the sound of his name being spoken. He instantly straightened up and turned his head away from the clown’s, hoping he wasn't getting his head chewed off. 

“…Megavolt, you’ll be with Quackerjack, the new guy. Head down to the power plant and install one of your techno-controller-whatevers. And do it quickly.” Oh, God, he was tuning out the conversation again. No matter- he knew what he had to do, at the very least, and he supposed that was enough. He’d put together the big-picture details later if he could remember to do so. 

"Will do, boss."

“Ooh, sounds fun! It’ll be exciting to see all the cool electrical stuff you can do, Megawatt!” Beamed his new partner, who likely hadn’t understood the plan either, as he offered out a hand.

A quiet “Uh, Megavolt. Megawatt was already taken.” was the best reply he could offer, but this external mumbling masked something much deeper, connected to the excess of emotion he was beginning to feel. A singular, breathing being had offered him something real, something kind, twice in a row. It had all happened within a matter of minutes, and yet it was more positivity than he had ever experienced in his entire life. He didn’t want to say anything about it out loud right then- for as happy as he was to talk to a living person who legitimately cared, this was all still brand new to him and he had no idea how it should be handled-, but it didn’t matter. He figured that the meager offerings he returned would suffice for now until he could muster up more confidence. At least he wasn’t following the others’ trend of insults and abuse, right? However, he still found himself shaking his head, that second side of him lamenting how easily he crumbled upon being given something good, just as easily as he crumbled under the pressure of being a lowly member of the newly complete Fearsome Five.

It occurred to him then that they were still shaking hands. Great, now he probably _was_ embarrassing himself by doing the bare minimum, and his mind was failing him yet again. But when he focused back on the duck in front of him, he found nothing had changed- he still wore that wide, incurable smile. Megavolt frowned for a moment, finding himself stuck in that initial bout of irritation he had felt upon first realizing just how peppy his new cohort was. But the longer he stared, the longer the happiness that oozed out of Quackerjack infected him. Sure, maybe that wasn’t the way he himself handled things, but it wasn’t a hurtful difference, and it could certainly be respected- he didn’t want to be a hypocrite, after all. Maybe it could even teach him to let others back into his life, to bring the vibrancy he showed his appliances to those who could truly appreciate it. It wouldn’t ever diminish his love of electricity, no, but it could certainly give him a second type of comfort.

He let go, and then he smiled back.


End file.
